Home School Legal Defense Association today pledged its continued opposition to CEDAW after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the treaty by a 12-7 vote. The treaty now goes to the full Senate where it is expected to be debated in the Fall.

" We will do everything in our power to stop ratification of this treaty by the full Senate," said Tom Washburne, director of HSLDA's National Center for Home Education. "It violates our national sovereignty and will put the United Nations in the heart of family decisions and give it oversight over all forms of education"

CEDAW stands for the UN Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women.

CEDAW is a broadly worded treaty open to numerous interpretations. The treaty addresses everything from education to the size of families. It is interpreted by a panel of 23 "experts" at the United Nations. These experts have recommended the decriminalization of prostitution in China; expressed concern that Belarus celebrates Mother's Day; lectured Armenia on the need to "combat the traditional stereotype of women in the noble role of mother"; stated that too many Slovenian mothers were staying home to raise their children; and, urged the nation of Andorra to order a review of textbooks used by the Catholic schools concerning sex education.

"Over two-hundred years ago, the founder's of this nation fought a war so that Americans could decide our own affairs," Washburne said. "Since that time, every generation of Americans have fought to preserve this freedom. Today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee took the first step in handing over our freedoms to the United Nations. If the Senate does not believe it has the expertise to administer foreign policy, the remedy is not for these Senators to transfer this authority to the United Nations, but to find a new job. America already prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. CEDAW is simply the radical feminists' attempt to achieve through the United Nations what they have been unable to achieve through America's legislatures and courts"

The following groups have expressed their opposition to the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

American Association of Christian Schools
American Family Association
American Policy Center
American Renewal
American Values
Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute
Christian Coalition
Concerned Women of America
Eagle Forum
Family Research Council
Focus on the Family
Home School Legal Defense Association
National Center for Home Education
National Institute of Womanhood
National Right to Life Committee
People Advancing Christian Education
Religious Freedom Coalition
Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Traditional Values Coalition
Traditions, Family, Property Inc
Wilberforce Forum